Evidence of the Paranormal

USS Hornet (9/19/14): Investigation Wrap-Up

I participated in a special investigation aboard the USS Hornet for the members of Bay Area Ghost Hunters. Yes, that’s right–Our group of approximately 30 people had the entire ship to ourselves for the night! I’ve investigated the Hornet a handful of times in the past and always had a good time; this one was special because of the size of our group and that I got to ghost hunt with friends.

Some say the Hornet is one of the most haunted places in the United States and, after all my investigations, I would have to agree with that. There’s a wide array of different spirits who either call the Hornet home or stop by on their travels. You never know who or what you’ll encounter on the Hornet!

This investigation started off on a haunted note. Before the investigation started, I went to use the women’s bathroom on the main hangar deck. I was the only person in the bathroom at the time but heard a toilet near me flush and then water run in the sink as if someone/thing was washing their/its hands. When I left the bathroom, I looked to see if there was anyone else in the bathroom. There wasn’t. I also watched the bathrooms to make sure I hadn’t missed anyone but no one human went in or out.

What is interesting is what I didn’t hear.

While I heard a nearby toilet flush, I didn’t hear any noises that would be associated with that sound. For example, I didn’t hear the sound of toilet paper moving on the roll or the sound of the stall door being unlocked and then opened–all things that happen when humans use bathrooms. Also, the sound of water running at the sink wasn’t accompanied by the usual sounds of soap being dispensed, the washing of hands, or paper towels coming out of the dispenser.

According to the docents, it’s not uncommon to hear noises like that in or near the women’s bathroom on the main hangar deck and it definitely has a reputation for being haunted.

Phantom bathroom sounds: What a great way to start off the night!

My group encountered several odd things while investigating, which all added to the special nature of the night.

While in the Chief Petty Officer’s Mess, we heard a loud banging coming from a nearby compartment. It sounded exactly like someone was taking a hammer or wrench and banging it against the metal lockers or maybe working on a piece of equipment. The banging happened for a few minutes before it suddenly stopped. Of course, when we went to investigate there was no one/thing around.

The Hornet is also well known for these types of banging noises throughout the ship that can’t be attributed to humans.

During an EVP session in the Ward Room, we heard a very sharp and loud whistle come from just outside the Room. When checked, there was no one human who whistled. The whistle sounded just like what someone would do to catch someone’s attention who was close by but out of yelling range. (Well, it worked; all of our attention was fixed on trying to locate the source of the whistle.)

According to our docent, he had never heard a noise like that in the Ward Room or anywhere else on the ship. He was just surprised as we were at the whistle.

What is neat is that my recording of the moment captures a brief, shorter whistle a few minutes before the sharp and loud whistle. It sounds like the same person/thing/whatever whistling both times. The shorter whistle was not heard at the time of the recording and was heard only upon review of my recording.

My group was able to access Radio Central, an area of the ship that is not on the public tours and doesn’t get a lot of traffic. (Human traffic, that is.) The compartments were set up pretty much as they were at the time the ship was still in service. There were large rolls of paper to feed the teletype machines and other equipment used to code and decode communications.

The area had an odd feel to it, which I chalked up to the fact that it wasn’t part of the official tour and the nature of the secret work that was done here.

Laura J had set up one of her REM pods just outside the compartment where we all were in. Normally, the REM pod does not go off. This time, however, the REM pod kept going off. It was like someone/thing was reaching out to touch it. Only the green light would flash on.

After Radio Central, we headed towards one of the Ready Rooms. Laura J again set her REM pod up outside the entryway. And, again, the REM pod went off just like it had in Radio Central. It was like a spirit had joined us in Radio Central and had gone with us to the Ready Room.

Next, we went to the Admiral’s Conference Room. Laura J set up the REM pod in the entryway. The REM pod went off again but there was a pattern to it. We were doing an EVP session and, each time someone asked a question, the REM pod would go off. When doing an EVP session, you want there to be a good amount of silence so you can capture any voices or other noises. The REM pod effectively took that silence away. It was like the a spirit didn’t want us to hear any responses that other spirits might have made to our questions.

Even stranger is that the REM pod would not go off if someone passed or said something that wasn’t a question. There were 5 questions and 2 non-questions. The REM pod went off after every question but remained silent for the non-questions.

It was an impressive and memorable use of the REM pod by the spirits.

All in all, 9/19/14 was a night to remember and produced quite a lot of audio evidence. You can find all the Hornet clips by doing a search for the date (9/19/14) in the salmon colored box on the top right of the page. A list of the relevant clips will pop up. You need to click on each summary to get to the actual blog post and EVP clip. The audio clips do not show up on the list of results.

The Hornet definitely lived up to its haunted reputation. I hope you’ll enjoy the EVP clips I’ve posted from this investigation.